


He's Alive

by thelonebamf



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelonebamf/pseuds/thelonebamf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas prompt fill for Scribblenautics. They requested some fluff between Liquid and Otacon and... this is what I came up with. (Not really fluffy or romantic at all... I'm such a failure.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's Alive

It was biting cold, but there comes a point when the human body fails to register even the most basic sensations. Icy rain had soaked the two men to the bone but Hal had gone beyond feeling and was focused on surviving. He'd managed to hoist Snake's body into the boat on what he assumed was sheer adrenaline. He didn't want to give any thought to what was powering him now, on the off chance that it would suddenly fail him. He didn't even dare pause to check Snake's pulse, afraid that he wouldn't find it. Afraid that there would be nothing he could do. After hours of dragging his partner's body through the rain slicked streets, and fumbling on the narrow stairwell of their apartment, the two were finally inside. 

It had been a rough night, but at last the soldier's haggard breathing evened out, and he found some manner of sleep- but not before uttering two words to the engineer.

"Liquid," he managed, his voice raspy and not much more than a whisper. "Alive."

Otacon said nothing in return. What could he say? He was surprised, to be sure, but he now found himself completely without words. The situation was unbelievable, incredible for multiple reasons, and had the information come from anyone other than Solid Snake himself, Otacon might have found himself incapable of believing it.

Finally, the doctor's keen mind summoned a response.

"...Oh."  
Later that night, when Snake’s body temperature had stabilized Otacon thought it safe to leave him for a short time as he collected his thoughts. Habit brought him to his computer desk, but he never turned on the machine, instead staring at a blank monitor. Liquid. Alive. It wouldn’t be the first time the man had escaped certain death, and Hal couldn’t stop himself from thinking of the time he witnessed it for himself.  
The air was cold on that night as well, although this was nothing out of the ordinary for Alaska. The sparse daylight hours had already fled, leaving only the moon to join what was left of the artificial light of the Shadow Moses compound. There wasn't any reason for Hal to be braving the elements at this time of day, but he'd spent his entire life cooped up, bent over a desk, and it didn't seem fitting to meet his end that way as well.

So here he was, outside, snow crunching beneath his sneakers, tiny crystals of ice clinging to the bottom of his well-worn jeans, staring up at the sky as though he'd find some meaning there, telling himself over and over that he wasn't just waiting for the planes.

He'd almost stumbled over the body.

To be honest he'd been so busy looking up at the sky, he'd bumped into the overturned jeep first, and had to mentally remind himself not to do the same with its mate. In retrospect, he should have realized this was the site of the last clash of the twin snakes.

He stopped for a moment, still as though he expected Liquid to leap up from his position on the ground and attack him. The fact that some sort of gun was laying a few feet away in the snow only made Emmerich feel more wary. Still, he had to have been here for hours. Dead from the battle if not the frost. Even so the engineer crept forward warily. He examined the body for a moment, then nervously shuffled the gun a few more inches away with his foot, his eyes always carefully trained on the other man. Finally, he bent down and stretched out an arm, cautiously reaching for a pulse.

Nothing.

He withdrew his arm quickly, and exhaled a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. His own body suddenly felt a chill that had nothing to do with the snow. He remained crouched for a moment longer, pulling his parka a little closer to his body before uneasily drawing himself to his feet. After one more glance at the sky he bent over and grabbed the frozen arms of his fallen enemy - although it seemed strange to use the word. He'd never thought of anyone as an enemy before, and as Hal slowly dragged the body towards the compound, he began to weigh the use of the term in his mind. Obviously he and Snake had spent the last frenetic hours of their lives trying to stop Foxhound from accomplishing its goals, and clearly Liquid had everything to do with that. Still, Emmerich wasn't used to being in the middle of such political intrigue. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more laughable it almost seemed, how far removed he was from things going on right in front of him. In the middle of everything that was happening at Shadow Moses he still managed to form some kind of fondness for Sniper Wolf. It wasn’t til now, hours after his death ; although it seemed like years , that he realized how sadly misplaced his emotions were. Hal's cheeks, already red seemed to grow even warmer with embarrassment as he finally managed to drag the cold body indoors.

The job became trickier as Hal came to a long flight of stairs, and he was forced to maneuver the body upright. He didn't know what he was trying to accomplish- the air raid was due to start any time now, eradicating every trace of what had happened here. Why bother bringing in the lifeless form of a man under a roof that was due to be destroyed before the night was out? Hal was too busy examining his foolish reasoning to notice that the form in his arms had stirred.

It wasn't until a faint groan escaped from Liquid's blue lips that Hal registered what was happening. The sound shocked the engineer, and he slipped in the pool of icy water that had collected around their feet. Stumbling slightly, he nearly fell on the ground before managing to steady himself, arms wrapped tightly around the blonde in what was possibly the most awkward embrace in history.

He stood there, completely still, as though trying to decide if what he'd heard was real. Another strained groan confirmed that it was.

Twenty-four hours ago, Hal Emmerich would have responded to this situation with nothing more than a panicked yelp and perhaps the loss of control of some choice bodily functions; however, Hal liked to think he'd grown a bit in the last several hours and he steadied himself before easing both Liquid and himself to the floor. 

Never good with words, the engineer simply sat in silence, the chilly body of Liquid Snake leaning precariously against his bony shoulder. At last he reached out a shaking hand to brush off some of the remnants of the snow from his unlikely companion’s slowly warming shoulder. The man had survived explosions, gunfire, icy cold and presumably a virus designed specifically to terminate him. The fact that he was now managing to cling life was evidence of his uncanny force of will. Hal began to think that the two brothers were alike in more ways than even they knew.

"Liquid?" he ventured after a time, realizing how silly and childlike his voice sounded, not sure exactly what sort of response he was expecting. For a while the slow, labored up and down of Liquid's chest was the only indication he had that he hadn't imagined the entire thing. Somewhat encouraged, he quickly unzipped his parka and began draping it over Liquid's body. Just as he pulled his hand away, he noticed the weary green eyes watching him closely.

"You... fell?" Hal suggested, unsure exactly what to say to a man who may or may not have wanted him dead.

"....Emmerich," came the faint reply, as though Liquid had to strain to remember the face of the man who'd designed the weapon he'd planned to steal.

"...Yeah..." Hal nodded, "I guess you never imagined I'd still be alive after all of this. I mean me of all people, right? Ninjas running around the place, artillery going off and who ends the day in one piece?" He laughed weakly, "At least, for now..." his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the ceiling, perhaps trying to sense how much time was left. He didn't have to clarify, however, because Liquid seemed to understand immediately.

"So," he huffed a humorless laugh, "my brother rode off into the sunset," he paused to cough, "with the pretty girl and left you here to die? Heh, sounds like him." The blonde turned to deliver a cruel smile. For some reason the news seemed to amuse him. "But I'm sure it had to be done, couldn't fail the mission, now could he?" 

"It... isn't like that," Hal retorted, surprised at how offended he was at the comment. "You don't even know Snake. Not really. He's not..."

"It doesn't matter what it's 'like'," Liquid interrupted, "You're about to die, aren't you? The reasons are immaterial."

This silenced the both of them for a while.

"Why did you bring me here?" the question came at last. "Did he tell you to do this? Is this supposed to be some kind of insurance policy? It's over."

Hal frowned at his half frozen companion. "No," he replied, obviously annoyed with the line of inquiry. "I... I don't know. I mean, I thought you were dead. I'm sure Snake did..."

Or he would have made sure to finish the job. The unspoken thought seemed to hang in the air, shared between the two of them.

"Look, what I choose to do with the time I have left is my business, and I don't see why I can't try and carry out a few last acts of philanthropy while I'm still here," Hal blurted.

"Philanthropy," Liquid mimicked, with another slight chuckle. "Right."

"It just didn't seem decent to leave a body out in the open. I mean, there's wolves and stuff, y'know?" The logic was shaky at best.

Liquid tilted his head, and a smile unlike the previous cruel expression warmed its way across his features.

"You're an odd one, Emmerich."

"So I've been told." 

There was another long silence punctuated only by the sound of labored breathing. Hal wondered idly for a moment why on earth the man had chosen to attend his final showdown without a shirt, but chalked it up to some odd form of British eccentricity. It wasn't after several minutes had passed that he realized he could no longer hear Liquid's haggard wheezing.

"L...Liquid?" he spoke softly, although he wasn't sure why. A quick examination revealed his suspicions to be correct. The man was dead, whether from hypothermia or the final effects of Foxdie he couldn't be sure. He didn't recoil from the icy body, simply withdrew his hand slowly, letting it fall to his side. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back to rest on the cold wall behind him and suddenly realized how tired he was.

All at once the steel door to the stairwell slammed opened and a small squad of uniformed agents burst in, weapons at the ready. Hal's mouth gaped as he scrambled to his feet.

"Dr. Emmerich," came the voice of the man closest to him. He spoke in an efficient staccato that reminded Hal of an automatic weapon. "You're to be escorted off the premises. We have a helicopter waiting."

"I... there's going to be... what about..." once again Hal found himself looking upwards at the barren cement ceiling.

"The air strike has been called off, Dr. Emmerich," came another voice. An older man, Hal never got his name. "We'd like to take you to the helicopter now. We have hot coffee."

It might have sounded absurd statement, but it was all the persuading Hal needed. He followed the men out of the stairwell, casting only a fleeting glance behind.


End file.
